BJP complains against Rahul's ISI speech to EC

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday submitted a representation to the Election Commission over Rahul Gandhi's claim that Pakistan's spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), contacted some Muslim youth who lost their family members during the Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "We have submitted a representation to the EC on Rahul Gandhi's baseless statement. We have demanded that the EC take action against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress for violating poll rules."

While speaking at a rally in Indore last Thursday, Gandhi had said that the BJP has been igniting communal fires across the country. He also said that 10 to 15 Muslim boys were contacted by Pakistani intelligence agencies.

Barring a few intercepts of calls made to victims from Pakistan, HT has learnt that there is little to support Gandhi's startling contention. Uttar Pradesh home secretary Kamal Saxena also confirmed that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had not shared any such report with the state.

Communal violence erupted in Muzaffarnagar, about 125km east of Delhi, in September in which 48 people were killed and over 50,000 displaced. There has been speculation that the riots were engineered to polarise communities ahead of the 2014 general elections.